Real Estate Investors is a Midlands-based property company with a track record of steady growth and generous dividend payments.

Recommended by Midas in July 2014 at 52p, the shares rose to 70p last year – then Brexit struck and REI suffered, along with almost every other property stock. Having fallen to 53p last summer, the price has crawled back to 60½p, at which point the shares look rather cheap.

REI is run by Paul Bassi, a property market veteran with 35 years’ experience and a reputation for providing shareholder value.

Upmarket: Birmingham, where rents for retailers now outstrip those in Manchester

The group delivered a 271 per cent increase in underlying profits to £5.2 million last year and a total dividend of 2.625p. Further strong growth is expected this year – profits are forecast at about £6.5 million with a dividend of at least 3p, putting the stock on a yield of 5 per cent.

REI has 250 tenants and even the largest one accounts for just 3 per cent of group income. The business is entirely focused on the Midlands, a region peppered with manufacturers that have benefited from the Brexit vote, as the weak pound has boosted exports.

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Birmingham is thriving too and retail rents are now higher than in cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Bristol.

HSBC is moving its retail bank head office to Birmingham, Revenue & Customs is moving thousands of staff to the city and trendy London restaurant The Ivy is opening an eaterie in the city centre.

This all bodes well for REI’s prospects. Bassi said last month that rental income was rising and that any economic uncertainty arising from Brexit should provide the group with acquisition opportunities.

To that end, REI recently bought two sites, one in Birmingham for £6.1 million and a second in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, for £2.8 million. Both were bought off-market, so avoiding competitive auctions, and they benefit from financially secure tenants such as Travelodge, Subway and Domino’s Pizza.

REI is also receiving strong interest from institutional investors looking for income-bearing properties outside London, so Bassi recently sold a property in Birmingham city centre for £7.2 million, a premium to the value at which the site was held in the books.

Midas verdict: Bassi owns more than 5 per cent of REI shares and is committed to expanding the business and delivering annual dividend growth. At 60½p, the shares are a strong hold for existing shareholders, while new investors could also find value at current levels. REI may even be an attractive morsel for large, London-based property giants to swallow up in time.